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Lumpy may be hefty with a misshapen mouth, but he’s funny and the most loyal friend Wheezy could ask for. When she meets Unwanted, she casts a wish for people to be able to see her best friend like she does. Her wish nearly kills him.

All the Weaver Tales are set in the same fictional village of The Tales. The villagers are called Word Weavers, because they speak in story. The same little gnome-elf, Unwanted, grants a wish in each book that makes the main character’s problem worse. The books do not have to be read in any order.

Review:

I received a free ecopy of this book for an honest review.

The Lumpy Duckling is a story for middle school age readers about friendship and loyalty.

Kai Strand does a good job of making this story of friendship appeal to tweens by adding a dose of fantasy and with the descriptions. In fact, at the beginning of the book, I wondered if I was reading about humans because of the characters’ names and some of the wild descriptions.

One thing that confused me was Word Weaving. It was mentioned throughout the book and I still l have no idea what it is. I’m not sure if it was explained in a previous book in the series, but it would have been helpful to explain it here.

The characters are delightful. Wheezy and Lumpy, the two main characters, are each unique. They’re not part of the popular crowd because they don’t “fit in” but they’re happy as best friends. I like how they got their nicknames and I especially like Lumpy’s attitude toward life. If only more of us could think like Lumpy!

I think tween would definitely enjoy The Lumpy Duckling.

Excerpt:

After school on Wednesday, she swallowed her pride and her pain and her fear and went straight to the park. On the way, she considered how to apologize to Lumpy when she saw him. She carefully chose the words she would use and rehearsed them again and again all the way there. By the time she reached the park, she was actually excited to see him and eager to admit how ridiculous she had acted.

x

The afternoon was warm, but a gentle breeze cooled her cheeks. Birds twittered in the trees and the fresh scent of grass and earth stirred an excitement in Wheezy for the long summer days that were only a week away. For the first time since Lumpy returned, Wheezy looked forward to spending day after day with him. With a fluttery heart, she realized she truly missed him, his jokes, his laughter, his presence. It didn’t matter what he looked like. She missed him.

x

She followed the park’s path through the trees and into the clearing. A smile bloomed on her face while she swung her gaze to their picnic table. But Wheezy halted and her smile died away. Her lips parted in surprise. Lumpy wasn’t alone. Edward sat on top of the table, his feet on the bench with his fan club gathered around, but they were all listening to Lumpy speak.

About the Author:

When her children were young and the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died. The end.” Now an award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers and short stories for the younger ones, Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults.

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Thanks for the suggestion on making the concept of Word Weaving (speaking in story) more clear in each book. I’ll keep that in mind as I continue forward in the series. I’m glad you enjoyed the story. Thanks for sharing The Lumpy Duckling and the giveaway with your readers!